As Indian cities continue to successively unlock themselves amidst Covid-19 pandemic, a major survey sponsored by the high profile Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation, and carried out by a top Indian environmental group, has found that in the post-lockdown period a whopping 34 per cent of those not owning vehicles would be buying new four wheelers, while 23 per cent said they would go in for two wheelers.

 Even as providing clean chit to the Gujarat government for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report prepared by a research team headed by Prof Ranjan Kumar Ghosh of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has found that a whopping 41% of health workers of the state reported that they were never tested for the dreaded disease. The  report , which has been prepared in close coordination with top state government officials belonging to the departments of labour and employment, climate change, information of broadcasting, food and civil supplies, and health, as also chairman of the state transport corporation, and the IG police (planning and modernisation), further admits that 22% of sanitation workers, 17% lab technicians, 16% doctors, and 10% nurses were never tested for Covid-19. Titled ‘Management of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Gujarat: Understanding the government initiatives, leadership processes and their impact’, the report takes the help of an NGO – ...

A virtual interview with 24,000 girls aged 15-19 during school closures in Asia and Africa has indicated that of the 9,887 reported loss of household income, 49% or 4,942 of them were from India. Overall, 42% of the girls said their households had lost income during the pandemic, making financial impact of Covid-19 the most significant risk to a girl’s education. Carried out by Room to Read, a non-profit with headquarters in San Francisco, US, having presence in 10 countries of Asia and Africa, including India, its Girls’ Education Risk Indicator survey confined its interviews among low income communities across Asia and Africa. The interviews took place over the phone or via video app calls in April and May 2020. Room to Read mentors asked three simple “yes” or “no” questions: Are you currently self-studying/keeping up with academic learning at home? Has anyone in your household lost a job or a source of income as a result of Covid-19? Are you concerned about being able to return to s...

  An authoritative survey, carried out by a group of academics and social workers, among low-income settlements in Ahmedabad during the Narendra Modi-announced Covid-19 lockdown, has said a whopping 37% of the households did not receive any free ration from the government. Of those who did receive ration (59% households), Dalits or scheduled caste (SC) and minority communities were found to be at the receiving end.